Curses bloomed.
Girls bit into sharp apples instead of birthday cake, chocked on the ruby-and-white slivers, and collapsed into enchanted sleep. Unconscious beneath cobweb canopies, frozen in coffins of glass, they waited for their princes to come. Or they tricked ogres, traded their voices for love, danced until their glass slippers cracked.
A prince would awaken, roused by the promise of true love, and find he had a witch to destroy. A heart to steal. To tear from the rib cage, where it was cushioned by bloody velvet, and deliver it to the queen who demanded the princess's death.
Girls became victims and heroines.
Boys became lovers and murderers.
And sometimes... they became both.”
Stats:
Genre: Dark fairy tale retelling
Feelings: Some?
Happiness: Some snark and fun back and forth conversations.
Cuteness: I have mixed feelings about the romance.
Fast
pacing: Ish
Series: YES. And no. The new book, Tear You Apart, is a companion about Viv.
Read if
you like: Once Upon a Time, and really dark fairy tales.
Content: Ehhhgggghhh. Some intense kissy stuff. Stupid romance thrown in. "Suggestive" comments. The most graphic it gets is the really annoying kissing with all the *BACK CLUTCHING* that makes me roll my eyes.
In one
sentence... A town where everyone gets a role in a fairy tale ending in death or sadness, and a girl on a mission for truth.
Thoughts: A apple, a blade, and dark flowers.
Overall:
Rating: 4.5/5
This review has LIGHT ROMANTIC SPOILERS in the negative section
The Lovely Bits:
I really like this book. When I say it's dark, I mean it. Fairy tale retellings can get old. But these are the types of fairy tales where Cinderella's stepsisters cut off bits of their feet. The dark kind. And it was glorious.
This is a very much concept driven book. After my first read, I did love the characters. I have given some thought and realized there's really more in it I didn't like that I thought. That being said, I still love the plot and story so much, it will remain a favorite.
The writing was lovely, thought simplistic. It was dark and weird, and very much pleasing. I ate up this whole book. Even the awful characters you kind of /like/.
I have so many mixed thoughts about Mira. She could be so obnoxious at times, but she was also realistic. She made terrible decisions but she was only 15. She was human. Wanting more. So I related with her. But there were times I wanted to smack that girl.
I feel like this is another case where I like the book so much that the little things in it that would normally disgust me don't bother me as much. I can understand why many people hate this book, but I loved it.
The Less Lovely Bits
Before we get to the awful romantic square thing, I am going to talk about Mira. I did say she was relate-able, but she was also ridiculous. She complained about not being able to drive or go to parties. She said she could never date or watch R movies. I understand that Sarah Cross was trying to make it obvious that she is sheltered, but...she's 15. I'm 15. I am not allowed to go to wild parties or watch R movies and chance are I won't be dating for a long time. So instead of relate-able she came across of obnoxious.
Sarah Cross also I think made her a little too...mellow with things. She goes to this place and meets these weird people...including a girl who coughs up jewels and flowers...and calls it "weird".
What.
Okay. Now for the messed up romance. Before I say anything I'd just like to say that Blue, Felix, and Freddy...they're brothers. Yep.
Blue: The Bad Boy. The annoying teen with conveniently colored blue hair and sass. Least annoying out of all of them. But the forced tension with him and Mira was annoying. She's 15. Make this cute. Not weird.
Freddy: The Nice Guy. Oh but he's so dedicated to her! And if she is to go through with her role as sleeping beauty, he's her true love!
Felix: The Mysterious Man. A freakin 21 year old who shares a bed with her and DOES WEIRD THINGS. Stop. She's 15. Stop. He's making her feel obligated to do something, even to the point where she gets a nightgown and all that. She's 15. Never dated. And yet suddenly bravery and experience.
Oh no, of course when Blue offers her a place to stay it's a terrible idea! But a 21 year old? Psh. Much better.
Here, look. I made a diagram for this.
Yeah. The romance of this novel sucked majorly.
Overall, I still finished this book loving it. I managed to swallow my furious-ness about the romance enough to realize that this story had so much promise and I really thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Partly also because the other not-main characters. Tear You Apart, the new one, has so much promise because it's about Viv, who is awesome.
I would definitely recommend this to people who have the patience for a weird love square and really like dark fairy tales. It's worth it.
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